Arsenal monitoring £20m Southampton star

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has his eyes set on bringing in Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, according to the Mirror.

Wenger, currently working at the World Cup as a pundit for a French television station, has come away impressed with the 24-year-old French international following his last-minute call up to the squad.

Wenger believes Schneiderlin, who is expected to command a fee of £20m from Southampton, would be the perfect fit in the Gunners’ midfield.

Any move away from his current club would be the latest blow for Southampton, who recently hired Ronald Koeman as manager, replacing the departed Mauricio Pochettino, who left for Tottenham.

Koeman, who has already seen Rickie Lambert leave for Liveprool, has also seen Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana leave for Man United and Liverpool respectively.

But the newly-named boss is not as keen to let Schneiderlin and has recently offered him the captaincy position should he decide to stay put.

The Gunners have been on a mission to find a dominant midfield player, with Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira and Bayern Munich’s Javi Martinez just two of the targets atop their list.

Arsenal have also kept their eyes on AC Milan’s Mario Balotelli and Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez, both of whom are expected to leave their respective clubs this summer. Liverpool have recently been linked with Sanchez in a deal for the recently suspended Luis Suarez.